Trends come in and fade out, but some are forever. And that is just what Mario Kart is: forever. Mario Kart’s first release was on Aug. 27, 1992 and its latest was Sept. 25.
Throughout our lives we have been playing different games. The most popular gaming system was the PlayStation 2 (PS2) that came out in 2008. The PS2’s most popular games were Grand Theft Auto, Gran Turismo, and Final Fantasy. Junior Kyler Hamlim said, “I got a PlayStation 2 when I was 12 years old. My favorite game to play was Madden NFL. I played it all day in middle school.”
The next most popular gaming system was the Nintendo DS. The DS, released in 2004, offered players a wide variety of choices of things to do like play a wide variety of games, chat with people nearby, take pictures of themselves or with friends, or record their own sounds. The DS’s most popular games were Mario Kart (2005), Nintendogs (2005), and New Super Mario Bros (2006). Nintendo’s Mario Kart for the DS is what sparked Mario Kart’s rise in the younger generation, and it has been climbing ever since.
The Nintendo Wii was the next most popular gaming system growing up. The Wii, released in 2006, hit about 101.63 million houses. The Wii offered a variety of games like Wii Sports (2006), Wii Sports Resort (2009), Super Mario Galaxy (2007), New Super Mario Bros (2009), Wii Fit (2007), and most famously, Mario Kart (2008). Mario Kart Wii alone sold about 37.2 million copies worldwide and is the best selling racing game worldwide. Junior Hank Breen said, “I loved and still love to play the Wii. My favorite game other than Mario Kart would have to have been Wii Sports Resort. I would love to play ping pong, fencing, or play archery. The game has so much to offer so I could be entertained by it for hours.”
This past September, the owners of Mario Kart released the game onto a new platform: smartphones. Mario Kart Tour allows players to have free download and access to the game at the touch of their fingertips. The app features courses from previous games and new ones based off of real cities.
Due to the high demand of the app right when it was released, there were delays with playing the game. Players received a message that stated, “The servers are experiencing heavy traffic. Your log-in request will be processed in the order it was received.”
The app does have some undesirable qualities that players still aren’t happy with, one being that it is a lot harder to control your character while playing. Also, players aren’t able to play with their friends who are also playing the game. Regardless of the drawbacks, players are still excited that they are able to play their favorite game in a more accessible way. Sophomore Ian Smith said, “I was so excited when I heard they were making Mario Kart into an app. I played the game on the Wii when I was little and now I am able to play it everyday on my phone.”
Regardless of how people are playing Mario Kart or what decade it might be, players will forever love the infamous game that is still continuing to make kids happy everyday.
